Missile Loadouts: Zumwalt (2019-2026)
Zumwalt (DDG-1000), the lead ship of her class, before the removal of her 155mm guns The exact missile armament of the Zumwalt -class has always been a rather opaque topic and the United States Navy itself has issued a variety of contradictory statements over the years as the ships' capabilities were adjusted during construction. The mission of the Zumwalt- class has also changed substantially over the years as the ships were reworked from littoral land-attack specialists into blue water ship-killers and deep strike platforms to match the Navy's shifting strategic realities. New Weapons For A New Ship Despite the Zumwalt -class’s impressive 16,000-ton displacement, they were originally armed with just 80 vertical launch cells compared with the 90-96 of the Arleigh Burke- class or the 122 of the Ticonderoga -class . However, the Zumwalt- class is equipped with the significantly larger Mk 57 VLS instead of the legacy Mk 41 VLS of the other classes, with 25-inch by 23-...